Operation Jupiter

The game was played out at my house on Saturday 6th Dec 2008. Ian and Keith played the Brits and I played the Germans. I provided the terrain and the Germans. The British were a mix of Keith's, Ian's and mine. Jo, my wife, cooked dinned for us afterwards and very nice it was too!

The 5th Dorset battalion and B Company 9th RTR start their advance past Les Diems farm. Churchills are Britannia by Ian. Carrier is MMS and Lloyd carrier is Ostmodels

B Coy 9th RTR in close up

II Abt 22SS Panzer Grenadiers at Chateau de Fontain. The German PaK-40's were singly useless during the game, despite holding fire until the Churchills were at close range, the panzerjäger didn't manage to destroy a single enemy tank

4th Dorset battalion and C Coy 9th RTR prepare to advance up the road to Eterville. Churchills from Cromwell except the closest which is Airfix. M10C is probably old Cromwell.

Typhoon (Airfix) over Maltot. Ian wisely had it bomb the 15cm gun deep in the German rear to prevent any possible friendly fire incidents

The sIG-33's crew fled the air attack and hid in wood, where they stayed until rooted out by the staff of 22SS Panzer Grenadiers. sIG by SHQ

C Coy 9th RTR outflanks Eterville to prevent the German infantry from running away. In the background the crocodile lines up to flame an unfortunate German weapons stand

Burn him!

After the attack there is no German stand left. Crocodile painted by Keith

RAF Tempest (Heller) makes a bombing run at some of the demoralised (ex) defenders of the Chateau

Having defeated the defenders of the Chateau, B Coy 9th RTR pursues the shattered remnants. The 22SS infantry gun fires futilely at the side of a Churchill.

The first Churchill of C Coy is forced back by fire from the infantry gun behind the town. The others press forward engage the rest of the infantry

Elements of 5 Kompanie 12SS Panzer Regiment arrive. PzKfw-IVJ by Fujimi

The 7th Hampshires supported by A Coy 9th RTR start their long push towards Maltot. The infantry are from Keith's collection.

The heroic defenders of Les Diams are finally overcome after holding out for three hours. Bypassed by the majority of the British forces this single stand fended off at least three separate attacks. In the end Ian had to borrow a company from the Hampshires and a Churchill to finish them off

The remainder of 5Kp 12SS arrived and advanced against the Churchills of C Company. Both Churchills were pinned so the odds were in the Germans' favour. However the dice were not. Neither Churchill was hit and both the panzers were destroyed.

At the same time 102SS arrived to engage B Company. As the Tigers are considered on the slopes of Hill 112 they are considered hull down, so again things look to be going in the Germans favour. However I reckoned without 6pdr APDS which is lethal and will go through the front of a Tiger. The Germans had one Tiger destroyed and one forced back off table. The Tigers ought to have demolished a pair of Churchills in return but lamentable dice rolling meant the result was merely two Churchills being forced back. Not a good turn for the Axis. Italeri Tiger I's

A Squadron 43rd Recce arrived on table. Keith made a very bold thrust for Maltot to pre-empt the German forces. Unfortunately for the Allies the infantry gun at Eterville brewed the leading Humber and brought the advance to a temporary halt. Halftrack by Airfix. Humber LRC and Humber MkIV by Cromwell and painted by Keith.

7th Hampshires and A Coy 9th RTR halfway to Maltot. In the distance B Coy can be seen duelling with the tigers

German reinforcements. III Abt 22SS Panzer Grenadiers rush to get to Maltot before the 7th Hampshires. Unfortunately for the Germans the first British recce units are already in the town. Although panzer grenadiers arrival is good news for the German commander they have no AT weapons and up to this point the Germans have not managed to kill a single Churchill

Halftracks lunge for the main part of Maltot but they have to pass in front of 43rd Recce's Humber, which promptly perforates one of the SPW. Luck was on the Germans' side this time. The morale of the Panzer Grenadiers held, the recce broke and ran - becoming shaken. SdKfz-251 by Skytrex

III Abt 22SS arrive at the chateau to the north west of Maltot (its not marked as a chateau on the scenario map). The 251's in the foreground are from Cromwell.

Last of the Panzers. The rest of 12SS Panzer Regiment covered by its FlaK Platoon. It didn't look much compared to the solid wall of 9 Churchills approaching. The Panzers did manage to manoeuvre so three of them were engaging but a single Churchill however the Germans remained bereft of luck and all three tanks missed the Churchill. Closest Pz-IV by SHQ the rest are Fujimi.

The last Tiger re-enters the battle, stalking Churchills

Worried about the appearance of the Panzers the 17pdr of 130th AT Battery deploys near Eterville. Matchbox/Revell 17pdr and Morris C8. C8 by Keith.

Panoramic view as the British armour rumbles onward towards Maltot past the shaken armoured cars of 43rd Recce.

At that point we ran out of time (and got in trouble form my wife as the table was not cleared for dinner). It wasn't looking good for the Germans. The panzergrenadiers are individually better than the the British infantry but were out numbered and the British were already in Maltot. The nine Churchills were proving formidable in the close ranges dictated by the hedgerows. A couple of bad British morale rolls would have swung things in the Germans favour and given them victory, but bad luck could equally apply to either side.

It was an excellent game, that might have gone the other way if any of my AT rolls had been good enough to kill a Churchill. It was a big shame we didn't quite get it finished.

Back to Scenario